cycling Archives - Page 22 of 23

Ripponden bank and stage 2 of T de F

July 2, 2014April 21, 2014 by tejvan

A training ride over Cragg Vale, Ripponden Bank and several other climbs which seem to proliferate around the Hebden Bridge area. Some of the climbs like Oxenhope Moor, Cragg Vale and Ripponden Bank feature in the TDF stage 2. Shame they didn’t put Luddenden Moor in there.

After Friday’s Buxton MTT, my legs were still a bit tired, but it was Easter Sunday, good weather and I was keen to check out some climbs in South Yorkshire, used in the upcoming TDF stage 2. I rarely go in this area, but it is great if you’re looking for hills to cycle up. Despite frequently getting lost and not always knowing where I was going, it was a good ride.

Over Bingley Moor, I went through Cullingworth to Oxenhope where I joined the TDF stage 2. There is a good steady climb from Oxenhope up to ‘Cock Hill’ on to the moors. At the top, it is quite high at 1,400ft, (400m) It is a fairly steady gradient, not too bad with the wind behind you. I was stopped at two sets of temporary traffic lights, as the council work furiously to get the road ready for the ‘big race’

From the top of Oxenhope moor, there is a great sweeping descent into Hebden Bridge. Not too steep, just nice and long. It will make a good climb the other way, with quite a significant height gain of over 280 metres. At Hebden Bridge, I had a vague idea to look for Mytholm Steps, but my OS map didn’t go that far. I ended up going miles past, ending up in Todmorden. I stopped to ask a kind elderly gentlemen, (he had a badge to say he was a veteran of the Normandy landings). He’d lived in Todmorden all his life, and told me I’d come 7 miles too far West. It would have been interesting to stop and talk to him more. But, I moved onto find some climbs.

I saw this Pexwood lane, looking suitably interesting – winding it’s way up the edge of a moor. It was a great climb, with double switch backs – quite steep until it rather abruptly stopped at a ‘Private rood’ sign. I might have plodded on and tried my luck, but the road also deteriorated into an unmade surface. I turned around and went back to Mytholmroyd for the Cragg Vale climb.

Cragg Vale

Distance 5.3mi
Avg Grade 3%
Cragg Vale

Cragg Vale proudly claims to be the longest continual ascent in England. 968 feet of climbing in 5.5 miles. There is nothing steep, it is a classic long drag or as Magnus Backstedt would say ‘A big ring climb’ Though I didn’t use my big ring, despite an encouraging tailwind. But, it was possible to keep a nice steady speed, even at the steepest section halfway through.

Even at its steepest, it never seems to go over 7%, so you can do the whole climb seated down. It’s a good ‘easy’ taster of long Alpine climbs. You can get into a good rhythm and enjoy the scenery. Someone has put helpful km markers, telling you have long you have left. Though for some reason, who ever put these helpful markers on the road, decided the top of the climb was after -0.5 km of downhill. It did seem to kind of diminish the ‘longest continual ascent in England’ tag.

The climb was very popular, I both ascended and descended Cragg Vale and saw a lot of cyclists going up and down. I’m sure the Tour de France has encouraged more to try the climb – it is definitely worth a visit for any cyclist. At the top of Cragg Vale a strong wind was blowing, which made the descent to Ripponden almost as slow as the climb.

Training on the outdoor track

April 17, 2014 by tejvan

New York is always full of surprises. Here, in the middle of Queens, New York, there is the Kissena Velodrome. An outdoor concrete velodrome. It’s a bit lumpy, but if you’re looking for a traffic free cycling environment, it is an oasis in the desert. When I went during the week, I often had the place to myself. A good opportunity for a few intervals and training.

The velodrome

After a heavy few weeks of mileage in March. This last week has been much quieter. Just a few recovery rides around the track this week.

Training

Riding the 2014 TDF Stage 1

April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 by tejvan

Ever since the Tour de France route was published a few months ago, I’ve been planning to ride the first stage as it includes some of my favourite roads in Yorkshire. 190km is a bit out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to see what it was like to do a full stage.

hawes-utd — Hawes United win the 2013 Wensleydale Cheese makers league – (and the Tour de France is coming to town)

In the end, I modified the route to avoid heavy traffic and ended up including some extra climbs. It turned out to be 120 miles, with 3,100 metres of climbing. It was a great day, and really enjoyed it, even if I did really suffer for the last 20 miles.

I didn’t start in Leeds, but from Menston near the A65. The A65 is not the most cycle friendly road, so just before Addingham I turned right on the B6160 towards Bolton Abbey and Burnsall. This cuts off a corner, but more importantly saves battling the articulated lorries on the Skipton bypass. The B road through Bolton Abbey and Burnsall is a really great cycling road. Little traffic and great scenery. It’s never flat and always rolling. At Grassington I rejoined the tour route proper on the B road towards Kettlewell and Bucken. After you have passed the slate mine near Grassington, this becomes a good cycle road. It wanders up the Wharfe valley through good countryside. Today the traffic was quite light.

kidstone-pass — Buckden with Kidstones pass in the distance

Kidstones Pass

Kidstones pass may only be a category 4, but it’s still pretty hard work. 130 metres of climbing, and quite steep around 16-17%. It will make a great place to watch the tour.

kidstone-yorkshire-dales — Descent from Kidstone pass towards Bishopdale

By the time I’d reached Aysgarth, I had only done 1 categorised climb, but noticed I’d already done 1,000 metres of climbing. It is really ‘rolling’ countryside, and the metres all add up.

Nick ‘O Pendle Hill climb

September 7, 2015March 30, 2014 by tejvan

The Nick O Pendle hill climb is a testing climb from the village of Sabden Village up to the moors of Nick O Pendle. (#72 on 100 hill climbs). The climb averages approx 10%, but at the start there are a few sections of 16%. It has been used several times for the National Hill Climb Championship, including 1988 when a young Chris Boardman won his first hill climb championship, setting a course record of 3.29 (he used a 60 inch fixed). A 19 year old Malcolm Elliot was also national champion on this hill in 1980.

Course Description

Start at the lamp-post outside the apartment block on the site of the old garage in Sabden Village. Proceed up the hill to FINISH at the large stone at the start of parking area and approximately 50 yards before the crest of the hill.The course is approximately 1350 yards long and has a maximum gradient of 1 in 6.

Nick ‘O Pendle Hill climb (from Sabden)

Distance 1.2km
Avg Grade 11.1%
Max Gradient: 16%
Elev Gain 135m
Height 1,514 ft – 461 metres
Course Record: Chris Boardman 3.29 (1988 – hill climb championship)
My PB: 3.35 (2011)
100 climbs #74

Veloviewer

Strava

National Hill Climb Championships at Nick o Pendle

1988

881030-NationalHillClimb — A youthful Chris Boardman takes his first National hill climb championship in 1988.

1988 – 1st Chris Boardman – 3.29, P. Sheard 3.43, P.Curran 3.43.6 (link Paul Curran’s page)

Chris Boardman had finished second by less than one second to Paul Curran in 1987. But, after winning in 1988, he told Cycling Weekly: “I’m quite satisfied with the ride. It’s nerve racking to get it all out in three minutes. Some start too fast.

1980

Malcolm Eliot hill climb — Last man Jeff Williams (and 1979 Champion) in the 1980 hill climb championships. He broke his nose before the race and did the race with blood coming down his nose. At half way he was four seconds up on Elliot, but by the finish had lost out by just 0.2 seconds. A very close championship. Cycling Weekly estimated a crowd of 5,000.

1980 – 1st Malcolm Elliot – 3.33.4, 2nd Jeff Williams 3.33.6, 3rd Gareth Armitage 3.36.6
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Do supplements actually work?

March 26, 2014March 26, 2014 by tejvan

I’m currently reading M.Hutchinson’s ‘Faster: The Obsession, Science and Luck behind the World’s fastest cyclists‘ (at Amazon on 27th March), I got mine from Waterstones) – I’m half way through already – it’s a good entertaining read, I’ll do a full review soon.

But, at times I think aloud. ‘Very good, but can’t you just give me a list of things to buy which will make me go faster.‘ I’m not one of those who needs to understand the science behind going faster. I just want to know what I have to buy and do – preferably with a minimum of work and cost.

One of the ways to go faster is buying food supplements. (the legal supplements of course) Over the years, I’ve bought all kinds of recommended supplements, which very confident sounding people have claimed will make ‘all the difference’. Beetroot juice, Beta Alanine, Cod liver oil, Creatine, tumeric powder e.t.c. The problem is that although I’m very good at buying supplements, I’m very bad at actually taking them. I have a cupboard full of 3/4 full tablet jars. I buy supplements with good intentions, but somehow I always forget to take them after the first few weeks of enthusiasm dies off. Every five years I go through the cupboard and throw away everything which has gone well past its Best Before date.

Beetroot juice was promising

A few seasons ago, I was convinced that drinking a litre of beetroot juice before a race was worth at least 30 seconds in a 10 mile time trial. I clung to this rather unscientific theory because one day, after gorging on the purple stuff, I’d managed to take 3 seconds off my 10 mile pb on the F20/10.

The only problem with this wonder product, was that it rather reliably gave an unpleasant case of diarrhea. It’s one thing to lose a bit of weight before a race, it’s another to lose all your minerals and salts. Although I liked the idea of Beetroot juice and was pretty attached to the concept Beetroot juice made you go faster, even I had to admit it was interupting my pre-race routine. Alas, I had to give up this wonder supplement, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to make any difference to my 10 mile time trials. A few weeks later, I went up north to ride the V718 and took nearly a minute off my 10 pb from 20.00 to 19.07. So much for beetroot juice, when you can ride on a motorway.

Supplements chapter

Anyway back to reading Hutchinson’s book ‘Faster’, I was nervously getting half way through the book when those insistent voices were getting louder. ‘But, what can I do to actually make ME go faster?‘ Jokes are fine, but I want something to make me faster, preferably with not too much work.

Thank-fully, Hutchinson came to the rescue saying that some supplements are generally agreed to really make you go faster. He mentioned three, Beetroot juice, Beta Alanine and Fish oil.

Wonderful, I had all these in my cabinet, completely untouched for the past ten months (I actually bought some Beetroot pills once). Without daring to look at the best before date, I popped the pills and got prepared for an interval session. My skin was tingling with all the beta alanine. This was psychologically reassuring – If it makes your skin tingle, it really must work!

What kind of cyclist are you?

March 26, 2015March 26, 2014 by tejvan

What kind of cyclist are you?

Do you ever wear lycra on a bike?

a) Cyclists how wear lycra give us a bad image
b) I cycle to work in lycra shorts and then change into my work clothes.
c) I started shaving my legs, just so it would go better with my lycra shorts
d) I have spent £250 on a semi- see-through – figure hugging skinsuit.

How do you respond to a question about which is better – Shimano Di2 or SRAM Red mechanical?

a) Is Shimano the thing which moves the chain?

b) It is only for those who have more money than sense.

c) Although SRAM red is 150grams lighter than Di2, on balance the easy of shifting will save me 1 or 2 watts in a race.

d) I have to ride Campagnolo

What is your favourite speed for cycling?

a) I don’t know what speed I go at, but it is faster than walking pace
b) I cycle at a steady 15-17mph.
c) I once did 50 mph down a steep hill in Yorkshire.
d) The fastest speed I can go at without passing out.

Do You Wait at Traffic Lights When They are Red?

a) It’s always nice to have a chance to stop and get your breath back
b) Yes, Unless no one is looking.
c) I thought red lights didn’t apply to cyclists?
d) You don’t get red lights if you do a proper race (or on a dual carriageway).

How Much Did you Spend on Your Latest Bike?

a) £25 6 shillings and 3 pence.
b) £1000 from local bike shop
c) £7,000
d) Free bike from team.

How do You Feel When Another Cyclist Goes Past You?

a) I feel sorry for those cyclists who arrive at work all sweaty.
b) Indifferent
c) I’ll just draft behind them for a few minutes before leaving them for dead on the long hill past the traffic lights.
d) A recovery ride is a recovery ride.

How long do you spend watching the Tour de France?

a) Well, I quite like the mountain scenery in the Alps. But, why I don’t understand why only one rider is wearing a yellow jersey.
b) I’m never in during the day
c) I can recite the most memorable lines of David Duffield and Phil Ligget by heart.
d) Only the highlights to see how I did in the stage.

So What Type of Cyclist are You?

Mostly A’s – You would fit nicely into the slow cycling movement. More concerned with looking good than going fast. You’ve learnt the art of enjoying the bike
Mostly B’s – You’re a good old fashioned cyclist who just rides the bike because you like doing it. You probably remember the days, when people used to cycle to youth hostels, with little more than a few pence in the pocket and a spare pair of socks.
Mostly C’s – If fate had been different, you could easily have been a Tour de France rider, but you’ve made up for a lack of pro wins by sprinting for village road signs on Winter Training runs. At least you look the part and have better bike handling skills than triathletes.
Mostly D’s – The real deal. Congratulations on your new contract with Team Rupert Murdoch professional cycling team!

10 reasons to love cyclists

November 1, 2016March 24, 2014 by tejvan

I don’t know why but apparently, there are some people who hate cyclists . I can’t understand. As a motorist I find many excellent reasons to love cyclists. Here are a few, I’m sure you can add a few more.

1. Target Practise – A cyclist helps develops our advanced motoring skills. For example, how close can you get to a cyclist without knocking them off? This is quite an art – best practised in a white van whilst travelling 15mph above the speed limit and with mobile phone in your right hand. You have to be careful though because occasionally, cyclists may make ‘dangerous manoeuvres’ like move 10 cm to the right to avoid a pothole in the road. If they have the audacity to move more than 1 foot from the edge of the road see no.2.

2. Practise Your Musical Rhythms. If you see a cyclist in the road, this is an excellent reason to practise sounding your horn. You can practise the art of playing your horn very loudly or you could just practise a simple rhythm like repeatedly holding the horn down. Unfortunately, this can often lead to disappointment as for some reason, beeping a horn is insufficient to make a cyclist disappear from OUR roads.

3. Feeling of Superiority. Now, some cyclists can having that annoying air of self-righteous superiority. They think they are saving the planet by eating home grown leeks and cycling to work. But, whilst we can tolerate their imaginary fantasies, we actually know it is us motorists who are saving the environment because of our decision to use unleaded petrol and occasionally buying 40% recycled plastic in our car air fresheners.

4. Funny To Splash People. This is related to no.1 but actually more fun. With driving over a puddle we get to see more physical evidence of our driving skills. When the road is waterlogged if you drive really fast over a puddle, a big stream of water gets sprayed over other road users and pedestrians. Just watch the face of a cyclist after he gets soaked with your puddle – priceless!

5. Odds Are in Our Favour. Crashes are inevitable on our roads, well at least they are inevitable if we don’t pay attention whilst driving and try to send a text or fall asleep at the wheel. In fact vehicles on British roads kill over 3,000 people a year, but, when you do crash into a cyclist, the odds are heavily in your favour. Their lycra shorts may make a dint in our paintwork, but, this can usually be fixed. Just image if cyclists drove Sherman tanks – when we knocked them down we would have more than a bit of dinted paintwork to deal with! Now that wouldn’t at all be fair – so we should be grateful to cyclists for not threatening our reinforced steel SUVs with nothing more than a thin layer of slightly ridiculous lycra.

6. Humour. Driving is a pretty boring affair. I mean we get stuck in endless traffic jams and it can take one hour to travel just a few miles in Central London. Now it’s pretty annoying that cyclists don’t get so caught up in the traffic congestion – often sneaking up on the inside in these ridiculous cycle lanes. But, next time your stuck in a traffic jam feeling miserable that other people won’t leave their car at home, why not pass the time laughing at other road users. Cyclists are bound to be wearing some ridiculous clothing, or maybe they’re just getting wet. Look on the funny side of these absurd cyclists and suddenly those interminable traffic jams will fly by!

7. Cyclists don’t Wear Down the Road.

No one like potholes, (unless you have one of those 4*4s and like to show off your off-road skills). But, cyclists don’t wear down the road because their bikes weigh very little. Nevertheless, even though cyclists don’t create negative externalities, we can still complain cyclists don’t pay road tax (the fact it was abolished in 1937 doesn’t really matter, having a go at cyclists is usually a pretty easy way to get a contract with a major newspaper, even if you are just a half baked TV chef…)

8. Cyclists don’t Pollute the Environment.

No one likes the exhaust fumes created by cars. It is unpleasant and can cause health problems like asthma, not to mention the problems of global warming. But cyclists don’t create any pollution, at least if you don’t count the by product of all those organic baked beans, these hippie, sandal-wearing cyclists often eat.

9. Cyclists don’t take up Valuable Parking Space

(space taken by cars and bikes)

Try parking in Central London, – a nightmare. You can spend hours driving around looking for a spot. Just imagine if every bike took the space of a car. We would never be able to park!

10. Cyclists don’t Cause Congestion.

Congestion would be even worse if cyclists started driving. Every cyclist means quicker journey times for us.

Next week – 10 Reasons to Love Motorists

Fitting a stem to handlebars

March 21, 2014 by tejvan

screw-mess

Last week I broke a stem due to tightening up the four bolts at different angles.

Not wanting to miss a day’s training, I bought a new stem on Monday for £14.99. However, I didn’t make a good job of fitting it. Firstly, the tribars are the old standard diameter of 26.0mm. But, most stems these days are the ‘oversize’ 31.8mm.

Therefore, I’ve been using some spacers to make the standard size of the tribars / handlebars fit the bigger stem.

When trying to fit the new stem, I found great difficulty in putting the bolts in straight. I could have done with another pair of hands. The problem was it was very difficult to tighten up the four screws at equal angle. The stem kept slipping. Also, the spacers aren’t perfect. It means it felt like a botched job.

Cycling through the rain photos

February 19, 2014 by tejvan

Some selected photos from the wettest winter since King Canute went on a canoeing trip up to the fjords and waterfalls of the Lake District.

wrapped-up-against-rain

Nice mac and Wellington boots to keep dry.

There must be a rainbow somewhere. This delivery guy rides through the rain, with the sun shining through in the background.

rain-buggy-carriage

It’s alright in the buggy carriage

fast-wet

One way to avoid the rain – cycle faster.

Welcome to the floods

flood-car-park

Please keep access clear for the flood waters.

Clip on SKS Mudguards review

November 22, 2015January 27, 2014 by tejvan

For the past four years, I’ve been using different types of SKS mudguards on my winter training bikes. Overall, I’m very pleased with the product. They do the main job of keeping the worst spray off your clothes. They are also quite easy to fit and adjust. They have also proved satisfactorily resilient.

Original SKS race blades.

I bought these original SKS race blades about four or five years ago. I can’t remember how many years, but they are still going strong.

After a few years, I once had a problem with the black supports coming away from the metal mudguard, but a bit of super-glue did the trick and they are still working on this Ribble.

SKS Race blade mudguard

This came out about two years ago. I was sent a free review copy. I was pleased to get a free review copy because I probably would have been willing to buy. They are an improved version of the original race blades. They have better adjust ability and a bit longer protection at the end, with those clip on flaps. They look pretty elegant with a smart carbon finish.

Advantages of SKS race blades

They are quick to fit on. No tools are needed. Just adjust with your hands. If they do rub, it is usually easy to fix by moving the different parts of the adjustable mudguards.
You don’t have to take off brakes to fit.
They are good for road bikes with narrow clearance between wheel and frame/brake
They are light only 250 grams, and are quite unobtrusive on the bike.
They are quiet with no rattle, like I used to get on the old fashioned mudguards.
They are like quick release wheels. It’s less than 30 seconds to take off, and perhaps a minute or two to fit on. Excellent if packing a bike up.
They have proved quite robust.
You can choose the wide road version or narrow road version depending on size of road tyres. The narrow are for 25″ and less.
With a bit of fiddling, they fitted my unusually shaped forks on this Ribble. There is also quite a narrow clearance between wheel and frame on this bike. Though whether they fit all bikes, I’m not sure.

Disadvantages

Unlike traditional mudguards they don’t offer all round wheel protection. You get even more water and mud flying out by the rear brake, so it needs a bit of cleaning.
They are not quite as solid as the more traditional muguards. If you lean your bike against wall with mudguards, they may get put out of shape, requiring adjustment.
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